1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to insulating glazing units and methods for assembling the glazing units. More particularly, the invention relates to the structure of muntin clips and methods of using muntin clips during the assembly of the insulating glazing unit. Specifically, the present invention relates to a muntin clip and a method of using the muntin clip wherein the muntin clip has a positioning arm that may be used to position the muntin clip and muntin grid with respect to a spacer during the assembly of an insulating glazing unit.
2. Background Information
Muntin clips are used to support and position muntin grids with respect to insulating glazing units. The muntin clips typically attach to or around the spacer that supports and spaces the glass sheets of the glazing unit. The muntin clips are typically disposed between the glass sheets to support a muntin grid between the glass sheets. These muntin grids created the appearance of a traditional divided lite window.
One type of spacer known in the art is a foam-bodied spacer such as the exemplary spacers disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,831,799. Muntin clips have been connected to these types of spaces by sliding or pushing a portion of the muntin clip into a slit formed in the spacer. A drawback with this installation method is that each clip must be manually centered with respect to the spacer to properly align the muntin grid within the glazing unit. Aligning these types of muntin clips consumes valuable manufacturing time. Manufacturers who use highly efficient automated equipment to assemble glazing units desire an improved muntin clip that reduces or eliminates the step of manually aligning the muntin clips with respect to spacers.